The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office says a 6-year-old was whipped with a hose and dropped on his head by his father, who then tried to hide to hide from the cops.
The 6-year-old's crime that earned an alleged beating from his father: drinking from an irrigation system.
YCSO says deputies got the call, and showed up to the scene in Paulden -- north of Prescott -- to find Jaccob Billiter's 23-year-old girlfriend with his two children.
Billiter's 6-year-old son had a "significant injury" to his head, and had dried blood on his face.
"Deputies were told that Billiter had recently held the 6-year-old upside down and whipped him with a hose as punishment for drinking out of the irrigation system," according to YCSO's account. "The head injury was apparently caused when the boy was 'dropped' head first on the ground."
The Sheriff's Office says welts on the boy's back were apparently caused by the hose.
Billiter's other son, a 4-year-old, also had an injury on his head, although it's only described as a result of "punishment" by Billiter.
Both boys were taken to the hospital, while neighbors told deputies that Billiter had run away as deputies showed up.
Billiter was awful at hiding, as deputies found him at a friend's house that same day, near where Billiter and his girlfriend live.
Billiter's looking at two counts of child abuse, two misdemeanor counts of abusing or neglecting a minor, as well as aggravated assault and disorderly conduct.
As of yesterday, Billiter was still jailed on $10,000 bond.
The youngsters are in protective custody, according to YCSO.
